I think it's admirable that you are open about being jealous. I'm sure that is what everyone feels but never admits it.

10:13 am April 1, 2009

Sara wrote :

I don't think it's age discrimination so much as a money issue. Older workers, who have more experience, usually command a higher salary. With companies these days trying to save money, they want to hire people willing to work for $30,000 a year, not $100,000. Also, there are more lower-level jobs out there than the higher-level jobs you are searching for. Older, more experienced, workers do find jobs eventually but it may take them longer than their younger counterparts.

11:25 am April 1, 2009

Steve wrote :

Following up on what Sara wrote -- sometimes it won't help even if the older worker makes it clear that they are willing to work for a salary more commensurate with a younger worker. Some employers are either so rigid in their pay scales (for example, it's my understanding that the federal government will not hire a lawyer at GS-12 entry level if that lawyer has more than five years of experience) or unconvinced that an older worker will deal well with being subordinate (in both pay and pecking order) to someone with less experience. Hopefully, older workers have been around long enough to accumulate some savings to get them through this longer period of unemployment until the overall economy picks back up and employers can't afford to be so picky. Good luck.

11:35 am April 1, 2009

jb wrote :

Many companies don't even mask their intent to discriminate based ipo she.
For example, a recent job post by a Fortune 500 company stated that anyone applying with more than 5 years experience woupd NOT be considered. Disgraceful and unlawful.

11:35 am April 1, 2009

Ken wrote :

I could see this coming when I was in my 40s. I think people, especially in technology, have to start planning on 25 or 30 year careers. You may work until you're ready to retire, but then again you may not. If you're in your 30s and aren't maxing out your 401(k) you are delusional.

As far as age discrimination having a basis. To be honest, for a lot of jobs, older people just don't do as well as younger people. If you are willing to accept that, then you are probably in a much better position to evaluate your own situation. If you can do that, then you can position yourself accordingly.

11:47 am April 1, 2009

Kim wrote :

I'm left wondering if the EEOC will gain relevance for more and more individuals like Mr. Hudson and thank him for expressing himself so candidly.

11:58 am April 1, 2009

eboy wrote :

As the job market marches to a land where everyone is in effect a "contingency worker" with no benefits older workers will have even a harder time than before for any number of reasons.

I was recently in an age discrimination case and the statistics on the mass firing were overwhelming in the favor or the legacy workers; the successful comeback was the Peter principle whose bar gets lower by the year as labor pool goes international and most there don't even think of retirement. You work until you die............... usually at home taken care of by your kids like the USA did in the early 20th century.

12:13 pm April 1, 2009

Thomas wrote :

Nikoli Tesla developed Alternating Current (AC) and died penniless but look at the amazing contirbution
he made.
Oppurtunities are abundant.

12:21 pm April 1, 2009

Kathy wrote :

I'm 48 and I worry about this. I would never try to "cover up" my age by alterning resume in any way. I suspect that many employers don't even bring over 40 applicants in for interviews if they can avoid it, because that way they don't have to worry about the legalities. From their perspective, I suspect they assume 1) I can pay someone younger less - whether this is right or wrong; 2) someone younger will be "easier to manage"- which is ironic since young folks really job hop; and 3) A BIGGIE- someone younger costs the company a lot less in health insurance. This is huge if it's a small company. A friend of mine in a 4 person company hired a 61 year old last year who she is very pleased with) and health insurance premiums shot up.

12:30 pm April 1, 2009

Dan wrote :

I have to reflect on my job search about 7 years ago. At that time I was 53, had been, among other things, a successful CEO of a small company for 13 years, and had a continuous resume in my field.

An HR person very enthusiastically told me to get my papers together, including my 30 year old college transcript. When discussing the position with her later she mentioned that I had received a "D" in Non-Western Music, in 1970!

Don't know if it was age discrimination or not, but I told the gal that it was apparent that my qualifications did not fit their organization and I hung up.

1:38 pm April 1, 2009

Dave wrote :

Kathy above hits on the big issues for older workers (I too turn 48 in a week) - higher insurance, higher pay, more 'family-type' issues for older workers. For many small- to medium-sized businesses, it's easier to hire a young, single person. Life's tough out there.

1:44 pm April 1, 2009

seffieandcoco wrote :

Unfortunately most of what is out there does not require much knowledge or experience. Each organization has its own quirks and methods. Unlimited school and experience does not help. As a result companies are looking for the least common denominator. If they want thinkers or math or programming they outsource and if they want customer service or sales they want good looking young people. What else is there? My understanding from the WSJ is the the leading occupation that University of Florida cheerleaders enter after college is pharmaceutical sales. That is a pretty obvious message.

2:31 pm April 1, 2009

Ellen wrote :

I am in my 50"s and I think that it is harder to get a job as you get older. Despite all of the bemoaning that there will be a shortage of workers in the future, as us baby boomers get older, there is little effort to figure out how to use older employees to a firm's advantage. It's funny, my life is much simpler now than when I was in my 30's and 40's. My children are grown and I am free to travel or work long hours if needed. I've been an executive and I don't need to be any more. I just want to do an interesting job and be paid fairly for it. I understand that may mean making less, but that's OK. I think that sometimes management equates ambition with performance. And that is not necessarily the case.

2:41 pm April 1, 2009

John wrote :

Hate 2 be cynical, but there is no question that age matters in the employment process and that there is age discrimination in the employment process; though how rampant, is anyone's guess. Simply because it is illegal does not mean it does not happen. Prostitution is illegal. So is using cocaine. Unlike these crimes however, age discrimination is very tough to prove, since an employer can easily hide behind other reasons for hiring someone younger. One just has to hope that one's experience, education, accomplishments, integrity / reputation will weigh in your favor.

3:24 pm April 1, 2009

Freelancing or Consulting wrote :

Should the "experienced worker" consider consulting. What the small and large companies will soon learn is that they will need both to run an operation properly and for the long run. The young worker can learn and the older worker can learn and teach. The cost of operation from labor is minimal if you have a strong cashflows from high sales.

3:46 pm April 1, 2009

Baby-Boomer Bay Area Recruiter wrote :

Some of the statements in this blog and comments section in a way demonstrate why employers seem to prefer hiring younger workers. People with a lot of experience are proud of their years of experience, yet sometimes carry an attitude with that where they will not put up with any nonsense if things don't go their way. The author's resistance and unwillingness to follow the suggestions/recommendations to omit his graduation dates and to highlight the last 15 (not 30) years of his work experience is an example of how a more seasoned candidate is set in doing things their way and is potentially someone difficult to manage (more so than someone that is less-experienced). Employers will know that someone didn't get hired as a Director straight out of college, but leave that up to them to figure out how long it took you to reach that level. Discrimination based on age is illegal in the world of employment, so why volunteer that information (with graduation dates & detailed resume of 30 years of experience)? That experience will come up later when you are filling out an application maybe, but it has no business on a resume. Another factor is that a job you held 30 years ago is likely irrelevant to what you do now. It is not a suggestion that you should misrepresent your age, but mostly not to draw attention to it. Additionally, if anyone has a resume that is longer than three pages, you need to edit it down to two pages. Recruiters are busier than ever nowadays, flooded with hundreds of applicants for a single position. A resume longer than two pages signals to me an inability to be concise and someone that includes more info than I need. Finally, in the words of Dr. Phil -- "how's that working for you?" If your current resume or job search technique isn't yielding any results, perhaps it's time to try something new.

5:00 pm April 1, 2009

Younger Hiring Manager wrote :

I was recently looking to hire someone for a junior marketing position, full time. I thought that the position title, description, and salary pretty clearly signaled that it was not a senior role, but I received many resumes from people who were formerly VPs and Directors, as well as independent consultants who had been in business for over a decade and had named their firms after themselves.

We were fully expecting only people in their mid to late 20's to apply for the job, but if someone older were willing to apply for the job, I was generally willing to do a phone screen of them, since they had very broad experience. Many of them didn't make it past the screen, since they either signaled that they only saw it as a brief stopping point, or that they thought that they were going to leapfrog me soon and be *my* boss, or that the job was really beneath them. Others made it to the face to face interview, but often flopped out when asked to answer the question "You were a VP/Director before, how do you feel about being a Marketing Manager and in a junior role?" Some candidates turned red, started shaking, and got visibly angry.

The final candidates spanned the gamut of age - from mid 20s to early 30s to mid-40s. I actually ended up hiring someone in their mid-40's who had great experience, was formerly a VP title, but gave great, convincing answers to the tough questions. She's already started and is working out great.

5:21 pm April 1, 2009

sw wrote :

Two headhunters told me that companies won't even look at resumes of people who are older than 55 in the engineering fields. Im 47 with a BSEE, MSEE, MBA from RPI, and I have been told to change my title from Engineering Manager to Lead Hardware/Software Developer, deny that I received management incentive bonuses if asked directly, and obfuscate the fact that I earned over $100K in discussions.

5:33 pm April 1, 2009

Bancroft Neighbor wrote :

I have dozons of position inquiries that never went anywhere....... in a hurry........all after I was 55, and desoite a nationally-recognized recruiter telling me, "if we get 1000 resumes in here, maybe one is superior to yours".

Let's just be specific; age discrimination is epidemic, and it didn't start last fall.

As to the "cost of being over 55", I haven't had a sick day in 38 years.

The whole issue is PC at its best, and clearly illegal in reality.

6:04 pm April 1, 2009

I want to be Nikoli Tesla wrote :

...and die penniless, having made an amazing contribution!
Thanks, Thomas!

6:26 pm April 1, 2009

Anonymous wrote :

does anyone suggest leaving off irrelevant experience, even if it shows a gap in the timeline of a resume?

9:54 pm April 1, 2009

Anon wrote :

Face it, no thirty-something HR type is going to recommend a fifty-something applicant to a forty-something hiring manager.

2:06 am April 2, 2009

SquawValleyUSA wrote :

Wondering why on earth you guys still have to work after 50? Isn't 28 years of work enough? Give the younger folks a chance.

8:58 am April 2, 2009

reply to SquawValleyUSA wrote :

In a word, healthcare. Past 50, there's no way I can risk having myself or my wife without health insurance and who knows what it'll cost over the next 15 years? Most other living expenses can be tweaked--moving to an inexpensive area, growing food, living frugally. Give us a healthcare system that will allow it and yeah, some of us can give the younger folks a chance.

10:42 am April 2, 2009

spruce up wrote :

I found two jobs at 45, none this year at 50. I lost weight, got teeth whitened, used the free wardrobe help at Nordstrom for an interview suit and increased online tool use, like linked in. It helped and made me feel like an interviewer's mom.
age discrimination is rampant. I wish you luck.

12:19 pm April 2, 2009

Dave wrote :

I agree that this does matter, age that is. We all need to do what we can to keep the costs low for healthcare. Did anyone hear about the mentally 9 handicapped/homeless people that went to the emergency room 2700 times over the course of a few years with no health insurance and cost tax payers like us about $3,000,000?
Link towards the bottom:

I'm 52, trim, and with a full head of hair. I recently had two interviews with a tech company and felt things were looking good. The final inteview was with the President, who 5 minutes into the conversation asked "How do you deal with the snow on your head?" I was taken aback until he clarified that he meant my grey hair. Coincidentally, his hair looked as though black shoe polish had been run through it.

The next question was "will you be able to handle working with people 20 years younger than you?" I told him that working in media and entertainment, I had worked among younger people throughout my career with no problem, but commented that I hoped his younger staff would have difficulty working with someone older. By that time, I had known that the interview had been a waste of time. Since then, I have began to wear contact lenses and touched up my hair.

1:53 pm April 2, 2009

Bill wrote :

I meant to type "would not have difficultiy working with someone older" My freudian slip

3:22 pm April 2, 2009

Joe Means wrote :

I moved to a new state 3 years ago with no job lined up at all. In the first two years I had 14 different jobs. 14 interviews, 14 job offers. I kept jumping jobs when I got a better offer. Some of the jobs I was surely qualified for, most - NOT. I decided early on I'd go into interviews and do exactly the opposite of every other interviewee. I went in guns blazing, with as much personality as I could muster. Every employer - every one - told me they were sick of vanilla people with no personality. One guy said he might hire me and to call back next week, I told him no, he would have to make a decision right away and I would start tomorrow or no go, he hired me on the spot. My current job advertised for a month, got over 100 resumes, did 30+ in person interviews, but I got the job in a 3 minute phone call by finding out who the regional manager was and going above the recruiters head. I work 25-30 hours a week now and make double what my last job paid. Bottom line people, if you stand out, people will have an opinion - maybe good, maybe bad, but they will make a decision immediately. Go for the gusto, do not take no for an answer, and when the ad says resume only and no call, you call them anyway. You tell them why you will be a good hire, and you ask for the job right there, If they say they will consider you, say no, you decide now or I'll go work for the competition and then you'll see me soon - as your competitor. Confidence, not arrogance. I sometimes felt like I was controlling the interview, and I was, I asked 95% of the questions. Honestly, 14 interviews, 14 jobs, and half of them I never even showed them my resume.

Think outside the box people.

3:28 pm April 2, 2009

Joe Means wrote :

Oh and one more thing, I'm in my 40's, and I dye my hair blond, I don't like the grey either, it does make me look old. And I'm a college dropout too. Half the jobs I have had were not even hiring at the time, but I identified companies who I wanted to work for, found out who made the decisions, and hit them up for a job. I was so relentless with one company president I think he hired me just so I'd quit bugging him. I called him every day, when I could not get him at work, I called his home. Quit worrying what people may think of you and if they like you, and concentrate on getting what YOU want.

3:59 pm April 2, 2009

AA wrote :

I am 61 and a good friend from undergrad school (age 62) decided a year and a half ago that we were not going to give up after being told that our upper mid level jobs in finance (company on west coast and company on east coast) were going away so we might as well "retire," even though we had MBA's from well know MBA pograms.

So as two grey haired guys, we formed a long distance mutual suport group and over our family's objections we formed a team and lived in our basements to master Linux/Unux clustering and finally virtualization. We joined on line groups, went to on line classes and trade schools, and grabbed any project we could get.
Now......
One of us is earning $120 K plus bonus in a data center virtualization project on very large machines and one of us is running the infrastructure for a regional ISP for $117 K plus bonus..

OK a 40-50% come down from last jobs, but at least we are working as techs, and our peers are crying in their beer and waiting fro the Govt to bail them out.

Best thing that hapened to us as it looks like after roughly 6 months on job, we are both gettng raises and promotions.

1:14 am April 3, 2009

Charlie Silicon wrote :

I am 55, work in Silicon Valley in marketing. I was laid off in November and have had a difficult time finding a job. I believe that some of it is due to age discrimination. There are many companies here with the reputation of being unfriendly to workers over 50. I am disappointed that there is no pro-active government enforcement of the age discrimination. By this, I mean that there is no check box on an applicaiton that is filled out for age as there is for gender, race, ethnicity, and veterans status. There is also no auditing of compliance with the law, as there was for racial discrimination, by sending resumes showing equal job qualifications, only differentiated by age. I believe that one way companies duck age discrimination is by recruiting young workers into "high potential" talent pools that are not laid off. This is basically designating a new graduate as a valued employee, partially based on age (meaning someone over 40 is rarely if ever paid and protected for their "potential" -- they have rely on their actual accomplishments). They don't have to do any job better than the people that are laid off since they are being rotated through various assignments, while being promoted.

There are ways to enforce the law. The government does not have to wait for an age discrimination suit to be filed. These suits and complaints are unbelievably painful and drawn out for the older, unemployed worker. As it is, companies feel that they can ignore the law with impunity or, at worst, as a small cost of doing business. What kind of message does it send about a career in the commercial world, allowing age discrimination be the reward for a career of hard work? What a waste of wisdom and experience.

1:55 am April 3, 2009

Boomer Bob wrote :

I don't get it. Where is the outrage? If there were religious discrimination, would we be asking Jews to wear crosses to job interviews? If there were racial discrimination, would we ask a black man to die his skin? If there were gender discrimination, would we ask a woman to remove her wedding band? Would we be asking the racially, religiously, or gender discriminated to suck it up because "Hey, I made it. What's wrong with you?" Why isn't the WSJ or the NY Times investigating this rampant practice? What does it say about a society that treats its older workers this way?

7:49 am April 3, 2009

Data Driven 53 YRO wrote :

FINALLY, I have stats: Of my 400 targeted, custom-written resumes over 30 months, 10 pct of the “no dates” landed interviews—there were NO calls about my “highly experienced” resumes.
Here’s one more reason to discriminate: Hiring managers are afraid that a 50+ worker will subsume their role as “coach” in the workplace.
“Outside The Box” is right on…IF you have phenomenal and rare people and sales skills. The rest of us mere mortals, however, ….
As MBA’s, we know that the Laws of Economics and the Laws of Human Nature will trump the laws of employment every time.
In 40 interviews, I’ve yet to close the deal, but my experiments showed that these tips have at least opened the door:
1. Hair dye definitely helps.
2. Forget the pinstripe suit unless ABSOLUTELY needed.
3. Treat your resume as a sales brochure. Its only purpose to get you the phone call.

9:13 am April 3, 2009

Lizzie wrote :

I think there are a number of different factors: healthcare costs, salary requirements, an expectation that younger people are better with technology. But I suspect that the biggest problem is competing against in-house candidates. For anything other than low-level work, you've got someone on the inside -- with allies -- trying to sway the hiring manager against you. Any manager who's ever resented being passed over for an outside hire is especially susceptible to that kind of pressure.

5:10 pm April 3, 2009

true that Lizzie wrote :

OK Lizzie, you have a point. the job might be rigged already for someone.
it is also true that they might want a young cheaper person with fewer health issues. how do I beat that??
I am feeling panicked.

4:44 pm April 4, 2009

Kim wrote :

I'm glad there's been discussion about the different types of discrimination that exist in Corporate America. As a person of color I've been the recipient of an e-mail with a "gook" reference in it and subsequently terminated shortly after reporting it to management. Although I can certainly empathize with anyone who is experiencing age discrimination, I also hope they now have an appreciation for what minorities deal with not only on the job, but in daily life as well.

1:11 am April 6, 2009

SquawCREEK wrote :

Health insurance is key for a reason to keep working. Thanks for the highlight. So, what do people usually do for health insurance upon retirement? Thnx

11:09 am April 6, 2009

reply to SquawCREEK wrote :

Most generally, if you or your spouse has worked for 10 years or more in a job that paid towards Medicare, you can go on Medicare when you reach 65. That covers 80% of reduced medical care. Often retirement benefits include supplemental "Medigap" insurance that covers some of the co-pays that come with Medicare.

11:10 am April 6, 2009

reply to SquawCREEK wrote :

I meant to say "reduced cost medical care"

1:45 am April 7, 2009

SquawCREEK wrote :

Sounds good. Final question. I'm looking to retire from the financial industry at 42 (20 years in the business). I plan to work at another career. But, let's say i just want to be a bum, what should I do for healthcare since I'd be 23 years away from 65 when Medicare kicks in? Should I pay for COBRA at $400-500/month? If there is a way to get healthcare without working, then i go back to my initial statement as to why someone age 55 would bother applying for a job in this market. Not to sound heartless, but after 30+ years of work, wouldn't one have enough saved, and general fixed costs like housing paid for already?

10:24 am April 7, 2009

reply to SquawCREEK wrote :

Unless you suffer a disability, COBRA's only a temporary solution, limited to 18 months after you terminate. In your case, you'd need to purchase health insurance. It's available from any number of sources, but as an individual you wouldn't have the bargaining power of a collective group. Even if you assume that you could get insurance coverage that you'd be comfortable with for $400-500/month initially, the way things have trended over the years, that cost would greatly outpace inflation over the ensuing 23 years. It might be doable, just not predictable. This is particularly true if the investments you were planning to use for these payments lost, say, 40% of their value unexpectedly.

There are many reasons why people over 55 (it started out at 50 when you were a VALLEY) continue to seek employment:
- Some still have children at home or in college and are still providing support for them.
- Unless you bought your residence immediately out of college, you probably still have a mortgage at that age.
- Many people flat out enjoy the satisfaction of doing what they do well. Retiring at 42 might sound nice, but it would drive many people crazy.
- Most of us (outside the financial industry) don't have the disposable income to accumulate a nest egg by age 50, particularly if we've been raising a family. The median household income in this country for 2007 was just over $50,000/yr. Even with an advanced degree, few professions pay more than twice that.

How long 'till you retire? I get the impression that you're not quite 42 yet .

- 52 year old unemployed Michigan engineer

7:02 pm April 7, 2009

Arthur Mboue wrote :

It is true, age does matter. Your career target goal can be undermined if you ( wife,..) waste too much time. Also, a good economy ecosystem is in the best interest of normal Americans (job seekers,..), forget our lifetime electoral kings, because with good health and fabulous economy, you can work until 70/75 and reach your goal.( WHO YOU CAN BE) That said you must remember a bad economy does not affect professional politicians (number and salary unchanged)
To answer somebody, I will follow Dick Cheney instead of Bill Clinton,..footsteps and seek a number two positions (with GE,... Jamie Miller, comeback Philip Ameen,... as number one, Senior Assistant corporate controller,...).
Do you deserve to enjoy a retirement and your goal?
Arthur Mboue, MBA, JD

12:00 am April 8, 2009

SquawCreekandValley wrote :

thnx for the feedback. Obama will be president for 8 years, and given we are moving towards a socialist regime, i fully expect Obama to provide universal affordable healthcare by year 8. Hence, I'm not worried. I am turning 32 this year, which would mark my 10th yr in the business. Pay has structurally declined by about 50% for the next 3-5 years I think, hence those who made 700K, will like be making 350-400K/yr from now on. Considering the state of the economy, that is better than a kick in the face. That is the level I'm at right now, but I've always lived off my base which has been 120-140K for the past 5 years and saved my bonus. Hence, I figure if I save my 250K/yr bonus for the next 10 years assuming it doesn't increase or decrease, that would be about 150K/yr after tax X 10 = $1.5 million, assuming no interest earned or value lost. Couple this with the existing 400K I have in the bank, I'm happy to walk away with about $2mil cash, not including property assets which may be worth something or nothing by then, and 401K. Life is too short to just do one thing, so at 41-42, I hope to join the foreign service and serve our country. Give me 80K/yr at an entry/mid level, I'm fine with it. I want my health insurance from them, or my cheap health insurance by Obama.

All my savings will be in cash earning a crappy 2-4% for the next 10 years, I'm fine with that. I've got about 180K in company stock that WAS worth 250K, and I've got 150K in my 401k that WAS worth about 220K. I've lost tons of money in the damn stock market, and having 250-300K equity exposure is enough. I don't care if I miss out on a ton of wealth creation by not investing my savings.

Who knows what will happen. Maybe i'll be fired before years 8-10. However, this is my plan. Even if i could make 500K/yr from ages 41-50 in finance, I just don't have it in me to do this job for my whole life, retire, and die. That would suck. I realize I am lucky to have a job with good compensation, and I think I will miss it if I got fired now. But, after 20 years in the business, I truly DON'T think I will miss it 10 years from now. I'll be sick of it.

I suggest all over 50 or so to just kick back and enjoy your savings and family in this market. Enjoy the 52 weeks of unemployment benefits, and enjoy life. I don't think the job market will improve for 2-3 years, so why bother killing and stressing yourself for something that's not there. Use your savings, that's what they are for, and enjoy the government assistance.

GL all!

1:40 am April 8, 2009

Flipping_Burgers wrote :

Ray Kroc was well into his 50's when entering a deal for McDonald's rights. He was only a milkshake machine salesman and had done many other jobs. Read online his bio in Wikipedia.

I am no Ray Kroc because he owned a baseball team. I am over 60 now and have had to reinvent myself several times for finding work. Eventually I became an IT expert and make a nice living, after dead-ends in environmental engineering and even stockbrokering through the crash of 1987. It hurts to watch money go but with care you get it back. All this self-pity on the blog and such only leads to one place - continued unemployment. Evaluate the situation, pick a path, realign your skills or education, and go for the goal. Sure, there were times I wondered but there is no other solution. Reject rejection but learn from mistakes and failure. It only takes one Yes after many No. The hard part is the Yes doesn't usually happen in the first week, but at least for me it always came before I was really broke.

10:27 am April 16, 2009

Chciago wrote :

Age bias/discrimination is rampant in the workplace. It is exacerbated by today’s poor economy as companies want to cut labor costs, and that tends to affect older workers. There is no debate as to whether it exists. The only question is what you can do about it. And the answer is - almost nothing. In extreme and clear cases, perhaps you have a legal option; but that can be very time consuming, negatively impacts your job search, and the outcome is not certain.

Having the knowledge that significant age bias exists in the workplace can help in one important way. It provides you the rationale as to why you will need to work harder in your search, and why your search will likely take longer. And you should prepare yourself for the possibility of taking an income hit in your next position (there are a lot of variables that will impact this last point – age is just one of them). If you stay focused and are disciplined with the search process, you will eventually overcome the age bias that exists in job market.

1:28 pm September 8, 2009

Roy T wrote :

Employers are not only looking to hire young -- but also the marginally qualified. I've seen 2 candidates for an engineer's spot, one with a masters and 5 years experience, another without and about 5 years experience. The one without got the nod before even an initial phone interview because it was thought he had fewer options to leave when things got good. It's ruthless out there - employers want obedient and cheap slaves. Quality is definitely taking a back seat in hiring decisions today. It's a very hobbesian out there.

3:32 am June 30, 2010

Geanette wrote :

I amd a 50+ female Business Manager and was laid off from my job of 9 years this February 2010. I have been searching since then and have sent out over 60 resumes. Many for positions that read like they were written especially fo rme, but never hearing anything other than an acknowledgement of receipt of my resume. I have had only one intereview since being laid off.

I have decided to take a bold new approach to my job hunting. I did take the advice of going back only 10 years on my resume, but now I have added in my cover letter a sentence that says "...I am a 45+ yr old Business Manager applying for the position..." At least if I am called in for an interview, I don't have to worry about age discrimination being a reason for not being hired. I feel that you can hide your age on your resume and get the interview, but what good will it do if when you get to the interview and they see you are more mature. Why waste time going on bogus interviews?

Hopefully, my tactic will work

3:24 pm September 5, 2010

targetedcomment wrote :

Dear Geanette,

Your tactic most likely will not work. It is better to have someone call you in based on your merits than to automatically pass over you because of your age. If you are called into a job interview, you have a chance to persuade the person that age doesn't matter. By including this information in your cover letter, you're just feeding the discrimination beast.

10:10 pm June 26, 2011

Donna wrote :

Well, I'm sixty when I was laid off. Its been 6 months looking and not even a bite ! ! Maybe you are right. I realize that now since I read your comments. Now that really depressed me.

10:33 pm November 7, 2014

Nicole Blackman wrote :

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Biographies

Steve McConaughey, was the director of marketing for the service division of Siemens Healthcare, until his position was eliminated in November 2008 after five years with the company. Previously, Mr. McConaughey, 50, worked for three software and networking startup companies in Silicon Valley and North Carolina. He earned an M.B.A. from University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business in 1990. He lives with his wife and son in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Angela Dorsey,was a panel operations manager for comScore, Inc., a marketing research company, until her job was eliminated in October 2009 after more than a year with the company. Previously, Ms. Dorsey, 38, was a senior program manager for Blackboard, Inc., an e-learning technology software provider. She earned an M.B.A. and M.S. in e-commerce from the University of Maryland, University College in August 2005 and December 2007, respectively. She lives with her husband in Alexandria, Virginia.

Henry Chalian,was a relationship manager at J.P. Morgan before his job was eliminated in May 2009 after seven years with the company. Mr. Chalian, 41, received a masters degree from the London School of Economics in 1995 and is currently completing a certificate of business excellence at Columbia Business School. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Kevin Mergens,was a product manager for ADP Dealer Services. His job was eliminated in June 2009. Previously, Mr. Mergens, 40, was a marketing manager at Littlelfuse. He earned an M.B.A. from Michigan State University ’s Broad School of Management in 1993. Mr. Mergens lives with his wife and three children in Niles, Ill.

Kevin Chenoweth,was previously a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting. His position was eliminated in April 2009 after more than a year with the firm. Prior to that, Mr. Chenoweth, 39, was a consultant with Lucidity Consulting group. He earned an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1993. He lives in Denver.

Brent Humphries,was a technical project manager at the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care. His position was eliminated in June 2009, after five years with the nonprofit. Previously, he worked as an IT contractor for various financial services companies. Mr. Humphries, 37, earned a part-time MBA from the University of Iowa in 2009. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

John Brownrigg was a senior manager at Corporex Companies LLC, a real-estate development company. Mr. Brownrigg, 54, was laid off in August 2008 after almost two years with the company. Previously, he worked on commercial real estate and construction projects for General Electric, Ericsson and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He earned an M.B.A. from University of Texas Austin in 1984. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and two children.

Geoff Hibner lost his position as CFO of Banta Corp. when
the company was sold to a larger competitor in 2007. Previously, he was an independent consultant as well as a senior vice president and
CFO at Timberland Co. Mr. Hibner earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1977. He lives with his wife in Neenah, Wis., and has
two adult children.

F. Ellen Whaley spent over 11 years at Aetna Inc., most recently
as an operations CFO. Her position was eliminated in 2001. Previously, Ms. Whaley, 54, was a management consultant.
She's now looking to re-enter the job market after an eight-year hiatus. She earned an M.B.A.
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lally School of Management and Technology in 1983.
She lives with her family in Essex, Conn.

Jon Gray was manager of planning and analysis at Xsigo
Systems, a San Jose technology start-up. He was laid off in November 2008, after almost two years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Gray, 34, spent seven years in various finance roles at Symantec Corp., a security software maker. Mr. Gray earned his
M.B.A. in 2006 from INSEAD. He lives in Los Gatos, Calif.

Dawn Jordan's position as an operations vice president at
Bank of America was eliminated in late October. Ms. Jordan, 39, previously worked at Countrywide Financial as vice president of customer
retention. Ms. Jordan received an M.B.A. from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2008. She
lives in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Laid Off Alumni

Christopher Janc, was most recently a senior vice president at Madison Capital Funding LLC, a leveraged debt provider to middle market private equity firms. He spent seven years at the company and was laid off in January 2009. Mr. Janc, 41, spent the previous seven years with three other middle market financial services firms. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2000. He lives with his wife and two kids in Elmhurst, Ill. a suburb of Chicago. After a ten-month job search, Mr. Janc landed a wealth management position with J.P. Morgan.

Kevin Hudson spent almost four years at ServiceMaster as
an IT finance director. When the company relocated to Memphis earlier in 2008, Mr. Hudson, 52, decided not to move. He received an
M.B.A. from the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1984. Mr. Hudson lives in Oak Lawn, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
After a 19-month job search, Mr. Hudson's yearlong part-time assignment turned into a full-time consulting position.

Heidi Mannetter was a senior marketing strategist at
Principal Financial Group Inc. before her position was eliminated in June. Ms. Mannetter, 33, was with the financial-services provider
for three years. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management in 2006, and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
After a ten-week job search, Ms. Mannetter landed a marketing manager position for Kemin Food Ingredients

Kerry Sanderson was manager of community relations at Jobing.com before her position was eliminated in March 2009. Ms. Sanderson, 43, was previously director of employer relations and business development at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She earned an M.B.A. at Rice University’s Jones School of Global Business in 2000. She lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
After an eight-month job search, Ms. Sanderson now works in account management for an e-commerce company.

Prakash Nagpal was the vice president of products at Sylantro Systems Corp. before his position was eliminated in late 2008. Previously, Mr Nagpal, 42, was a general manager of products at Covad Communications Group, Inc. He earned his M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson School in 2000. He lives in Oakland, Calif. with his wife and two children.
After more than six months of searching, Mr. Nagpal is now involved in carrier marketing at Actelis Networks.

Kenneth Jones was laid off in March 2009 from Nortel Networks Corp. where he worked as a services product line manager. Mr. Jones, 43, spent 11 years at the company with roles in IT operations, software development, business development and product management. Mr. Jones earned an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business in 2003. He lives with his wife and two children in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After a seven-month job search, Mr. Jones landed a product management role at Elster Intergrated Solutions.

Joel Friedman was eliminated from his position as
the vice president of enterprise technology at the First Horizon National Corp. in May 2009. He spent 13 years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Friedman, 40, worked as a call center and sales team manager at Budget Rent A Car, now owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc.
He received an Executive M.B.A. from the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business in 2006. He lives in McKinney, Texas.
After a three month job search, Mr. Friedman landed a position as the chief information officer at Century Payments, a payment processing company.

Rachel Levy worked as marketing director at the Jewish
Community Centers of Greater Boston before her position was eliminated in July 2008. She previously held brand management positions at
Kraft Foods Inc. and Jim Beam Brands Co. Ms. Levy, 37, received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in
1998. She lives in Boston.
A year later, Ms. Levy was offered a director of marketing and social media position at Second Time Around, a Boston-based consignment store chain.

Michael Crehan, 54, spent the last eight years as a senior
vice president at Lehman Brothers in the ratings advisory group - until March 2008. Mr. Crehan also spent 14 years at Standard & Poor's.
He earned an M.B.A. from Babson College in 1982 and lives in Fairfield, Conn.
Seventeen months after his layoff, Mr. Crehan accepted a career development position at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business.

Amanda Sundt, 35, was a senior marketing manager at Orbitz
Worldwide Inc. Her position was eliminated in early November. Previously she held marketing positions at Upshot, a Chicago-based
advertising agency, and Allstate Insurance Corporation. Ms. Sundt received an M.B.A. from DePaul University Kellstadt School of
Business. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. After four months of unemployment, Ms. Sundt recently started a new
marketing position at iExplore, a Chicago-based adventure travel website.

Brian Murphy spent a year as an associate in Bear Stearns'
investment banking division until the firm collapsed. Mr. Murphy, 35, is searching for restructuring or turnaround management jobs and
divides his time between California and New York. He has an M.B.A. from USC's Marshall School and spent nearly 10 years in the Marine
Corps, serving two deployments in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. After eight months of unemployment, he recently started a new
investment banking position in New York.

Karen Reid spent the last six years at Citigroup Inc. Her
position as the vice president of global corporate banking was eliminated in June. Ms. Reid, 38, is now looking for a corporate finance
position. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management in 2002. She lives in
Atlanta. After six months of unemployment, Ms. Reid started a finance position for a medical communications company.

Matthew Vuturo, 27, worked as a strategic planning manager
at VR Mergers & Acquisitions, a Tampa, Fla. -based firm. He was downsized in early 2008. Mr. Vuturo earned an M.B.A. from the University
of South Florida in 2005. After job searching for more than a year, Mr. Vuturo landed a position as the new director of sales and
marketing at GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, Inc. a Lake Bluff, Ill.-based contract manufacturer.

Spencer Cutter was a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc., working in the leveraged finance group. After nine years with the firm, Mr. Cutter was laid off in the
spring of 2008. Mr. Cutter, 40, earned an M.B.A. from UCLA's Anderson School in 1998. He lives in New York. In July 2009,
Mr. Cutter started a business-development position at Bloomberg LP.

Karina Diaz Cano was a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers
in Washington D.C. Her position was eliminated in July 2008. Previously, Ms. Cano spent several years working
in multicultural marketing and sales roles for Sierra Nevada Brewery Co. and MKTG, a marketing services firm.
Ms. Cano, 33, earned an M.B.A. from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in 2006.
She's now a communications consultant living in Washington D.C.

Brian Fetterolf lost his real estate investment banking position
with Macquarie Capital Advisors in March. He had been a senior vice president there for 18 months.
Previously, Mr. Fetterolf, 38, was a director at Lasalle Bank Corp. He earned a J.D. from Boston College in 1996 and an M.B.A.
from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business in 2002.
Mr. Fetterolf lives with his wife and three children in the suburbs of Chicago.
In July 2009, Mr. Fetterolf started a corporate counsel position at TriState Capital Bank.